The invention relates to a furniture hinge for a hinged lid arranged in a horizontally swiveling manner on a body of a piece of furniture comprising a fastening plate and a swivel plate that is arranged in a swiveling manner on the fastening plate by means of two substantially straight lever arms that are arranged as parallel linkages.
Such furniture hinges are known and are used for forward opening hinged lids, for example. Such a forward opening hinged lid that often is not very high, up to the height of a drawer unit, for example, may be arranged directly below a countertop and above a trash container arranged inside a base cabinet so that it is possible to wipe kitchen trash and crumbs from the countertop directly into a trash container that is fastened to the opened hinged lid when an upper side of the hinged lid is opened towards the front.
While the dimensions of a furniture hinge for an upward opening hinged lid on a wall cabinet always must be large enough to allow for a large opening angle and must reliably maintain a front panel fastened to the furniture hinge in an open position, the mechanical requirements and therefore the furniture hinges for the hinged lids arranged in a swiveling manner directly below the countertop are comparatively small.
In order to keep the manufacturing costs as low as possible as well, the furniture hinges known from practical experience for these comparatively small hinged lids comprise a swivel plate to which the swiveling hinged lid can be fastened with the swivel plate being arranged in a swiveling manner on the fastening plate by means of two substantially straight or, respectively, linear lever arms. The two lever arms are forming a parallel linkage arrangement. With such an embodiment the furniture hinge may have a very low profile so that the trash container that is fastened to the hinged lid can reach as far as possible to the left and to the right edge of the hinged lid and no impractical gaps between the trash container and the side walls of the body of the piece of furniture are necessary on the edges of the hinged lid in which the furniture hinges are arranged.
Often the swivel plate is pushed into a closed position or, respectively, held in this closed position by means of a spring device. If the swiveling hinged lid reaches directly below the countertop, the hinged lid, either due to laziness or due to the difficult accessibility, is dropped early directly below the customarily projecting countertop. The hinged lid that is released early snaps into the closed position, which on one hand produces a clearly audible closing sound and on the other hand affects or damages the fastening and the swiveling mechanism of the furniture hinge in the long run.
It is desirable to provide a furniture hinge as the type described in the introduction that allows for a cost-effective easier handling of such a hinged lid and improves the closing motion of the furniture hinge. In addition, it is desirable that the furniture hinge is to have as low a profile as possible and to require only little space.
According to an aspect of the invention a furniture hinge comprises a damping device that can be fixed on the fastening plate. By means of the damping device it is possible to prevent the hinged lid from snapping to a closed position without reduced speed during a closing motion and hitting the body of the piece of furniture with a loud bang. By fixing the damping device on the fastening plate of the furniture hinge, the required mounting is considerably less compared to a damping device that must be fastened separately to the body of the piece of furniture or to the swiveling hinged lid. In a suitable embodiment of the fixing of the damping device on the fastening plate, the mechanical linkage between the damping device and the swiveling hinged lid can be specified so that a manual adjustment of the damping device is not required.
Preferably the damping device comprises a damping cylinder and a piston rod that can be displaced inside the damping cylinder in a dampening manner and in that the piston rod has a mechanical linkage with a lever arm. A piston rod that can be displaced inside a damping cylinder in a dampening manner provides a damping device that can be manufactured cost-effectively and functions reliably over a long period of time. In particular with a short damping device path and low damping forces as they usually occur with hinged lids that are arranged directly below the countertop and have a height that may correspond to a drawer unit, the damping cylinder with the piston rod that is displaceable inside the damping cylinder can be especially small or, respectively, can be arranged in an especially space-saving manner. The damping device has a dampening effect that is velocity-dependent and does not exert any or, respectively, exerts only insignificant force on the completely opened or closed hinged lid.
If the piston rod is arranged in a swiveling manner on a lever arm and counteracts a swiveling motion of the lever arm in a dampening manner, an opening motion as well as a closing motion of the swiveling hinged lid can be dampened.
It was found that a dampening effect for an opening motion of the hinged lid often is not considered necessary, in particular since there usually is a spring device that counteracts the opening motion. In order to keep the manufacturing and mounting costs as low as possible it therefore might be possible for the piston rod to rest on the lever arm and to counteract a spring force during a closing motion of the swiveling motion of the lever arm. If the swiveling hinged lid is opened and the lever arm is swiveled into an open position, the piston rod is displaced out of the damping cylinder by means of a spring device arranged inside or on the damping cylinder until it rests against the lever arm. During a closing motion the lever arm is displaced to a closed position whereby it must displace the piston rod that rests against the lever arm into the damping cylinder against a dampening effect. Since the piston rod merely rests against the lever arm and must not be connected permanently or in a swiveling manner to the lever arm, the manufacturing and mounting for the damping device is reduced considerably.
Preferably the damping device comprises a fastening element on or in which the damping cylinder can be fixed. The fastening element can comprise a bore with an internal thread in at least some sections into which a damping cylinder can be screwed with the damping cylinder having a corresponding external thread. The fastening element can comprise means for fixing or fastening the damping device to the fastening plate.
According to an advantageous embodiment the fastening element comprises a plane seating surface and an angled stop angle. The plane seating surface is used for fixing the fastening element to the fastening plate by means of planar tactile contact. The angled stop angle can encompass the edge of the fastening plate and ensures that the fastening element is neither shifted nor tilted relative to the fastening plate when the plane seating surface rests on a surface of the fastening plate in a planar manner and the stop angle forms a stop on the edge. Separate means for aligning the damping device relative to the swiveling hinged lid or to the lever arm with which the damping device is connected, are not necessary.
For cost reasons it may be possible for the fastening element to comprise a bore for a fastening screw. Since the plane seating surface and the angled stop angle provide a reliable fixing and alignment of the fastening element and thus of the damping device relative to the lever arm, the fastening element must be fixed in the respective position with on single fastening screw only in order to prevent the plane seating surface or the stop angle from disengaging from the fastening plate. The bore expediently is arranged in the area of the plane seating surface congruently with a recess or bore in the fastening plate. The fastening screw can be screwed through the bore in the fastening element as well as through the recess or bore in the fastening plate into the body of the piece of furniture and can be fixed there.
According to an especially advantageous embodiment of the inventive concept a guide cap with a guide groove is arranged on an end of the piston rod facing the lever arm with the dimensions of the guide cap being adapted to a thickness of the lever arm. The guide cap forms a sufficiently wide stop surface for the lever arm independent of a diameter of the piston rod.
The lever arm extends into the guide groove so that this engagement ensures a reliable lateral guide of the piston rod relative to the lever arm.
In order to provide the best possible even dampening effect, the guide groove runs in a plane that is defined by the swiveling motion of the lever arm and has a curvilinear course. The curvilinear course or, respectively, a curved part of the guide groove can be adapted to the shape of the lever arm as well as to an alignment with the piston rod relative to the lever arm. Due to the curvilinear course of the guide groove it is possible for one of the sides of the lever arm to roll off along the guide groove during an opening motion and in particular during a closing motion. This makes it possible to minimize signs of wear and tear as they appear due to the shifting of the lever arm in the guide groove, for example.
In order to ensure that the dampening effect is as reliable as possible, the lever arm comprises a recess into which the piston rod or, respectively, the guide cap of the piston rod engages. The recess can be a vaulting along a side of the lever arm, for example, whose curvilinear course is adapted to the course of the guide groove in the guide cap. This prevents an unintentional lateral shifting of the piston rod or, respectively, the guide cap of the piston rod along the side of the lever arm during an opening or closing motion.